Hopper outlet construction



22, 1964 c. J. KORANDA ETAL 3,162,490

HOPPER OUTLET CONSTRUCTION Original Filed Feb. 29, 1960 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 IN V EN T 0R5 I r (70/ 2/266 Jfzorqrzda,

BY mam EH15 22, 1964 c. J. KORANDA ETAL 3,162,490

HOPPER oumrr CONSTRUCTION 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Original Filed Feb.- 29, 1960 INVENTOR5- aargelzce JfZb/ZUZdd,

1964 c. J. KORANDA ETAL 3,162,490

HOPPER OUTLET CONSTRUCTION Original Filed Feb. 29, 1960 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTORSV Clare/2C6 ifforarzcm,

1964 c. J. KORANDA ETAL HOPPER OUTLET CONSTRUCTION 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Original Filed Feb. 29, 1960 United States Patent Ofilice 3,162,490 Patented Dec. 22, 1964 Claims. c1. sea-5s This invention relates, generally, to conveying apparatus and it has particular relation to such apparatus for use with vehicles, such as trucks and railway cars, provided with one or more hoppers at the bottom from which finely divided lading is to be removed by pneumatic means. This application discloses an invention which is an improvement over the invention disclosed in application Scrial No. 723,329, filed March 24, 1958, and assigned to the assignee of this application, now Patent No. 2,950,143, issued August 23, 1960, and is a division of application Serial No. 11,648, filed February 29, 1960, now Patent No. 3,090,519, issued May 21, 1963.

Among the objects or" this invention are: To provide improved means for pneumatically removing finely divided lading from a hopper or like receptacle filled therewith; to construct the conveying apparatus mounted on the hopper in such manner as to facilitate the removal of all of the lading therefrom to the end that there is substantially no residue when the pneumatic operation is completed; to provide a vacuum chamber at the bottom of the hopper having a removable hood to permit access to the interior of the vacuum chamber for inspection, cleaning, etc; to provide asket means between the removable hood and the adjacent walls of the hopper outlet; to provide slots between opposite sides of the hood and the hopper bottom through which the lading can flow into the vacum chamber; to provide slots of diiferent widths to regulate the rate at which the lading flows into the vacuum chamber from opposite sides of the hood; and to locate the inner lowermost upper surface portions of the inlet and outlet conduits as continuations of the inner lowermost upper surface portion of the hopper bottom so that cleaning or flushing liquid applied to the hopper bottom can flow out of either end depending upon the angle of inclination.

In the drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a vertical sectional view through the lower portion of a hopper mounted on a railway car and taken generally along the line 1-1 of FIGURE 2;

FIGURE 2 is a vertical sectional view taken generally along the line 2-2 of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a view, similar to the lower portion "of FIGURE 1 and showing certain modifications, this view being taken generally along the line 33 of FIGURE 4;

FIGURE 4 is a vertical sectional view taken generally along the line 4-4 of FIGURE 3;

FIGURE 5 is a view, in side elevation and at an enlarged scale, showing in more complete detail the construction of the inlet conduit and regulating closure cap therefor;

FIGURE 6 is a view, in end elevation, of the construction shown in FIGURE 5, the view being taken looking from right to left; and

FIGURE 7 is a view, similar to FIGURE 3, but showing a modified arrangement for mounting the generally U-shaped hood.

Referring now particularly to FIGURES 1 and 2 of the drawings, it will be observed that the reference character 19 designates a portion of the center sill of a rail- Way car which is spaced inwardly from a vertical sidewall (not shown) between which there is located a hopper that is indicated, generally at 14-. It will be understood that a similar hopper may be located on the opposite side of the center sill 10 and that several pairs of such hoppers may be employed for each railway car or vehicle as may be desired. The hopper 14 is formed by inclined outer and inner side sheets 15 and 16 and inclined end sheets 17 and 18 which joined together at their meeting edges. The lower edge portions 15a, 16a, 17a, and 18a of the sheets 15, 16, 17 and 18, together define a rectangular discharge opening 19 through which the lading in the hopper 14 can flow downwardly to be pneumatically exhausted using the mechanism to be described.

The lowermost portion of the hopper 14 below the dis char e opening 19 is closed by a generally U-shaped bottom member 22 which may be formed of stainless steel. The bottom member 22 has an upwardly inclined outer side 23 and an upwardly inclined inner side 24. The upper edge portions 23a and 24a of the sides 23 and 24 of the bottom member 22 extend along the lower edge portions 15:! and 16a of the side sheets 15 and 16 and are welded thereto as indicated at 25 and 26, respectively. It will be observed that the outer side 23 is inclined, as indicated at 27, away from the horizontal through a smaller angle than the inner side 24 is inclined away from the horizontal as indicated at 28. For example, the angle 27 may be about 48 while the angle 28 may be about 60. The reason for this particular arrangement will be set forth hereinafter.

The ends of the generally U-shapcd bottom member 22 are closed by vertically extending closure sheets 29 and 38. They may be formed of stainless steel and suitably secured, as by welding, to the ends of the bottom member 22. The upper edge portions 29:: and 30a of the closure sheets 29 and 36 extend along the lower edge portions 17a and 13a of the end sheets 17 and 18, and are welded thereto as indicated at 31 and 32, respectively.

The generally U-shaped bottom member 22 forms a part of a vacuum chamber 35 at the lowermost part of the hopper 14. The upper portion of the vacuum: chamber 35 is defined by a generally inverted U-shaped hood 36 which preferably is formed of stainless steel. The hood 36 has an inclined outer side 37 and a similarly inclined inner side 38. The portion of the hood 36 between the sides 37 and 38 is generally rounded. However, the construction of the hood 35 can be modified, as shown in FIGURE 3, for example, to provide a generally inverted V-shape so that a minimum of lading will be lodged on the upper surface portion of the bond 36. It will be understood that a reference to a generally inverted U- shaped hood herein applies to the construction shown, for example, in FIGURE I as well as that shown in FIGURE 3.

The sides 37 and 38 of the hood 36 are of symmetrical construction and the hood 36 is positioned within the confines of the U-shaped bottom member 22 so that the lower edge portions 37a and 38a are spaced from the juxtaposed upper surfaces of the outer and inner sides 23 and 24, respectively, of the U-shaped bottom member 22. Elongated slots 39 and 40 are thus provided through which the lading in the hopper 14 can flow in tothe vacuum chamber 35. It will be observed that the slot 39 is slightly wider than the slot 40. This difference in Width is accomplished by inclining the outer side 23 at a lesser angle to the horizontal than the inner side 24. The reason for using the different widths for the slots 39 and 40 is to selectively control the rate at which the ladiug flows into the vacuum chamber 35 from opposite sides of the hood 36. It will be observed that the narrower slot 40 is located on the side of the hood 36 adjacent the center sill 10 and that the major portion of the lading is located thereabove while a minor portion of the lading is located above the slot 39 on the opposite side of the hood 36. If the widths of the slots 39 and 40 were the same,

3 7 experience indicates that the lading on the side of the hood 36 adjacent the center sill 10 will be discharged into the vacuum chamber 35 before the lading on the other side is discharged intoit. When this occurs the vacuum seal is broken and considerable additional time is then required to complete the removal of the lading through the other slot. I

With a View to permitting access to the upper surface of the bottom member 22 for cleaning, inspection, etc., the hood'36 is removably mounted. For this purpose support brackets 41 and 42 are suitably secured to the closure sheets 29 and 39 and extend inwardly therefrom. Threaded studs 43 extend upwardly from the support brackets 41 and 42 and wing nuts 44 thereon serve to hold the hood 36 in place and yet permit ready removal thereof. lit is desirable to support the hood 36 intermediate its ends. For this purpose support pins 45 and 46 are provided. They may be secured, as by Welding, to the upper surfaces of the sides 23 and 24 of the bottom member 22 and extend inwardly and upwardly sufficiently far to underlie the lower edge portions 37a and 38a of the sides 37 and 38 of the hood 36. As pointed out herein- .afiter the support pins 45 and 46 can be omitted and provision made for supporting the hood 36 entirely on the end closure sheets 29 and 30. v e

A handle 47 is secured to the central upper portion of the hood 36 intermediate its ends to facilitate removal when the wing nuts 44 have been unscrewed. Generally U-shaped gaskets 48, preferably of natura gum rubber, overlie the ends of the hood 36 and are secured thereto. The gaskets 48 are provided to prevent direct impingement of either of the ends 36 on the inner surfaces of the sheets 15, 16, 17 or 18 which usually are formed of sheet steel and have an insulating covering thereover to prevent contamination of the lading. By providing the gaskets 48 at the ends of the hood 36, if there is accidental impingement, there is little likelihoodthat the coating on the sheets 15, 16, 17 or 18 will be damaged.

In order to remove the lading from the vacuum chamber 35 provision is made for introducing air or other fluid into one end and at the same timeprovision is made for exhausting the air or fluid in which the lading is entrained at the other end.

It will be observed that the closure sheet 29 is provided with acircular inlet opening 51 for receiving therethrough an inlet conduit 52 which preferably is formed of stainless steel. If desired, an annular flange 53 can be provided which is suitably secured to the conduit 52 and in turn is welded to the outer side of the closure sheet 29.

Where the inlet'conduit 52 is assembled initially with the closure sheet 29, the annularflange 53 can be omitted and the inlet conduit 52 secured directly. to the closure sheet 29. It will be observed that the right end of the inlet conduit 52 opens into the vacuum chamber 35. The

other end of the inlet conduit 52 is closed by a closure cap 54 which is provided with a resilient gasket 55, preferably of gum rubber, to provide a tight seal to the left end of the inlet conduit 52. The amountof airentering theinlet conduit 52 is controlled by variably positioning the inlet closure cap 54. For this purpose it is mounted on a threaded shaft 56 which extends through a threaded support or nut 57 that is centrally located within the inlet conduit'52 by radially inwardly extending support arms 58. The construction isv shown in somewhat more detail in FIGURES 5 and 6 of the drawings. The shaft 56 is rotated by a hand wheel 59. In order to prevent unauthorized movement of the hand Wheel 59 an arm 60 extends downwardly .and'outwardly from the underside of the inlet conduit 52 and 7 it, has anopening 61 for receiving a sealing band which can extend through the hand wheel 59 between the spokes thereof.

' 'In some instances it is desirable to filter the or other fluid enters the inlet conduit 52. For this purpose a filter 62 can be provided between the support arms 58 and the inner side of the closure cap 54. It will be understood that the filter 62 can be omitted here and that the inlet conduit 52 can be connected to a suitable enlarged inlet conduit provided with filter means having a substantially greater area in order to avoid unduly restricting the flow of inlet air or other fluid.

The lading is exhausted fnom the vacuum chamber 35 through an exhaust opening 63 the closure sheet 30 through an outlet conduit 64 which may be formed of stainless steel and is of larger diameter than is the inlet conduit 52. As pointed out hereinafter the diameter of the inlet conduit 52 can be the same as that of the outlet conduit 64. Surrounding the left end" of the outlet conduit 64 and spaced slightly from the extreme left end is an annular flange 65 which may be welded to the outlet conduit 64 and also to the closure sheet 30. Where the outlet conduit 64 is initially assembled with the closure sheet 30, the annular flange 65 can be omitted and the outlet conduit 64 welded directly to the closure sheet 30. The right end of the outlet conduit 64 forms a cylindrical nozzle portion 66 for receiving a flexible hose (not shown) which forms a part of a pneumatic exhaust system. The nozzle portion 66 is prefenably completely enclosed in order to avoid contamination by extraneousmaterial. Accordingly, a' radial flange 67 is provided intermediate the ends of the outlet conduit 64 and well spaced from the right end of the nozzle portion 66. on the right side of the radial flange 67 there is a resilient gasket 68;, preferably of gum rubber, against which an outlet closure cap 69 can bear in sealed relation. In order to engagerthe resilient gasket 68 intermediate its outer and inner surfaces spaced elongated indentations '70 are formed in the closure cap 69. For example, three such indentations 70 can be formed. The open annular end portion 71 of the closure cap 69 then is so positioned that it engages the gum rubber gasket 68 as shown in FIGURE 2 and as described.

In order to prevent loss of the outlet closure cap 69 an eye 72 is secured to the outlet conduit 6 and another eye 73 is secured to the closure cap 69. Then a chain (not shown) interconnects the eyes 72 and 73 which is long enough to permit removal of the closure cap 69.

.Any suitable means can be employed for holding the closure cap 69 in place on the Outlet conduit'64. Preferably the clamp mechanism' shown in Patent No. 3,090,519, issued May 21, 1963 is employed. It is often necessary to employ a cleaning liquid for removing all traces of former lading from the hopper 14 and from the bottom member 22. For this purpose the empty hopper 14 can be flushed with the cleaning liquid preferably after the hood 36 is removed. It will be observed that the lowermost upper surface 74 of the inlet conduit 52 and the lowermost upper surface portion of the outlet conduit 64 are extensions of the respective ends of the lowermost upper surface portion '76 of the bottom member 22. Essentially these three surface portions are along a straight line. As a result, regardless of the angle of inclination of the bottom member 22, the liquidused for flushing the hopper 14 will fiow from either end.

The construction shown in FIGURES 3 and 4 of the drawings is generally the sameas that shown in FIGURES .1 and 2 of the drawings and described hereinbefore. Accordingly, the same reference characters have been applied where essentially 'the same parts are used. As pointed out hereinbefore, FIGURES 3 and 4 show the hood 36 to be of inverted V-shape for the purpose of minimizing the amount of lading left on the upper surface.

At the ends of the hood '36, as shown in FIGURE 4,

the vacuum chamber 35 is essentially the same as described for' FIGURES l and 2. The arm 60 is located on the upper side of the inlet conduit 80 for receiving the sealing band.

As shown in FIGURE 5, the inlet closure cap 54 is loosely mounted on the threaded shaft 56. It is caused to move into sealing engagement with the inlet conduit 80 by a washer 81 which is welded to the threaded shaft 56. On the other side of the closure cap 54 the resilient gasket 55 is held in place by a large diameter Washer 82 which is loosely mounted on the threaded shaft 56 and held in place by a removable cotter pin 83.

In FIGURES 3 and 4 of the drawings it will be observed that the hood 36 is mounted on the closure sheets 29 and 39 by inverted V-shaped brackets 84. The studs 43 extend upwardly therefrom for receiving the wing nuts 44 as described hereinbefore. A handle 85 is secured to the outer and inner sides 37 and 38 of the hood 36 and it extends transversely thereof. It will be noted that the uppermost portion of the handle 85 is below the upper edge portions 290 and 30a of the closure sheets 29 and 30. This construction facilitates the complete assembly of the pneumatic mechanism shown in FIGURES 3 and 4 as a unit for shipment.

It was pointed out hereinbefore that the support pins 45 and 46 for the hood 36 can be omitted, if desired. Such a construction is shown in FIGURE 7. There support lugs 193 are secured to the closure sheet 29. It will be understood that similar support lugs can be secured to the closure sheet 30 for supporting the other end of the hood 36. It will be understood that the hood 36, as shown in FIGURE 7, is supported not only by the inverted V- shaped brackets 84 but also is supported by the lugs 103. On removal of the wing nuts 44, the hood 36 can be lifted for cleaning, inspection and like purposes.

In operation, with the vacuum chamber 35 arranged to receive lading from the hopper 14, the outlet closure cap 69 is removed and the flexible hose of the pneumatic unloading system is telescoped over the nozzle portion 66 of the outlet conduit 64. Then the hand wheel 59 is operated to move the inlet closure cap 54 away from the juxtaposed end of the inlet conduit 52 or 80 as the case may be to the desired extent, depending upon the degree of vacuum that is drawn by the pneumatic'unloading system. The vacuum then is applied and the lading flows downwardly through the slots 39 and 40 into the vacuum chamber where it is entrained in the air or other fluid. Since the widths of the slots 39 and 40 are different, the lading is unloaded from both sides of the hood 36 at rates such that the vacuum is broken on both sides at about the same time.

There are some instances where it is desirable to have the same construction at the inlet conduit 80, FIGURE 4, that is used at the exit conduit 64. Such an arrangement permits unloading from either end of the vacuum chamber 35 or permits the vacuum chamber 35 to be a part of a completely enclosed pneumatic unloading system in which the air or other conveying fluid is returned to the vacuum chamber 35 rather than drawing in new air or fluid. When such an arrangement is employed, the inlet closure cap 54 is omitted together with the threaded shaft 56 and hand wheel 59. Also the arm 60 is omitted and provision is made for applying a closure cap, such as the outlet closure cap 69, to the inlet conduit 8%). Also, the same cap holding mechanism, as shown in Patent No. 3,090,519, is employed.

What is claimed as new is:

1. For combination with a. hopper containing finely divided lading and formed by downwardly extending walls defining at their coplanar lower edges a rectangular opening, a generally U-shaped bottom member adapted to be secured along the upper edges of its sides to two opposite lower edges of said walls, closure members secured to and extending vertically at the ends of said bottom member and adapted to be secured along their upper edges to the other two opposite lower edges of said walls, and an inverted generally U-shaped hood mounted at its ends on said closure members and having its lower edges spaced from the upper surfaces of the respective sides of said bottom member and forming therewith a vacuum chamber into which lading can flow through the longitudinally extending slots therebetween.

2. For combination with a hopper containing finely divided lading and formed by downwardly extending walls defining at their coplanar lower edges a rectangular opening, a generally U-shaped bottom member adapted to be secured along the upper edges of its sides to two opposite lower edges of said walls, closure members secured to and extending vertically at the ends of said bottom member and adapted to be secured along their upper edges to the other two opposite lower edges of said walls, an inverted generally U-shaped hood mounted at its ends on said closure members and having its lower edges spaced from the upper surfaces of the respective sides of said bottom member and forming therewith a vacuum chamber into which lading can flow through the longitudinally extending slots therebetween, and means removably securing each end of said hood on the respective closure member whereby said hood can be dismounted to permit access to said bottom member.

3. For combination with a hopper containing finely divided lading and formed by downwardly extending walls defining at their coplanar lower edges a rectangular opening, a generally U-shaped bottom member adapted to be secured along the upper edges of its sides to two opposite lower edges of said walls, one of said sides of said bottom member being inclined away from the horizontal through a substantially greater angle than the other side, closure members secured to and extending vertically at the ends of said bottom member and adapted to be secured along their upper edges to the other two opposite lower edges of said walls, and an inverted generally U-shaped hood mounted at its ends on said closure members and having its lower edges spaced from the upper surfaces of the respective sides of said bottom member and forming therewith a vacuum chamber into which lading can flow through the longitudinally extending slots therebetween, the sides of said hood being of substantially the same length and inclination away from the horizontal and so located that the lower edge of the side extending along the upper surface of said one side of said bottom member is substantially closer thereto than the lower edge of the other side of said hood is to the other side of said bottom member whereby the widths of said slots are correspondingly different.

4. For combination with a hopper containing finely divided lading and formed by downwardly extending walls defining at their coplanar lower edges a rectangular opening, a generally U-shaped bottom member adapted to be secured along the upper edges of its sides to two opposite lower edges of said walls, closure members secured to and extending vertically at the ends of said bottom member and adapted to be secured along their upper edges to the other two opposite lower edges of said walls, an inverted generally U-shaped hood mounted at its ends on said closure members and having its lower edges spaced from the upper surfaces of the respective sides of said bottom member and forming therewith a vacuum chamber into which lading can flow through the longitudinally extending slots therebetween, a fluid inlet conduit on one of said closure members opening into one end of said vacuum chamber, and a fluid and lading out let conduit on the other closure member opening out of the other end of said vacuum chamber, the inner lowermost surface portions of said conduits being substantially endwise continuations of the inner lowermost surface portion of said bottom member to facilitate flow from either end thereof of a cleaning liquid applied thereto depending upon the angle of inclination thereof.

, 5. For combination with a hopper structure fol-handling finely divided lading and adapted to be unloaded by fluid means and having downwardly converging walls defining at their coplanar lower edges a rectangular opens ing, the following: a generally U-shaped bottom member adapted to be secured along the upper edges of its sides to the opposite lower edges of said walls of the rectangular opening; closure Wall members secured to and extending at the ends of said U-shaped bottom member and to the other two opposite lower edges of said walls of the rectangular opening; and an inverted U-shaped hood member mounted at its ends on said closure Wall means, said hood member having its lower edges spaced from the upper surface of the walls of the U-shaped bottom member and forming therewith a vacuum chamber into which lading can flow between the lower edges of the hood member and the facing wall of the bottom member.

5 References Cited in the file of thispatent V V UNITED 'STATES PATENTS Re. 24,916 Oliver Dec. 27, 1960 2,303,810 Anderson Dec. 1, 1942 2,617,446 Williamson Nov. 11, 1952 2,858,165 Oliver Oct. 28, 1958 2,919,158 Aller Q Dec. 29, 1959 2,941,842 Wishaw June 21, 1960 2,950,144 Dorey Aug. 23, 1960 3,069,207

Borger Dec. 18, 1962 

1. FOR COMBINATION WITH A HOPPER CONTAINING FINELY DIVIDED LADING AND FORMED BY DOWNWARDLY EXTENDING WALLS DEFINING AT THEIR COPLANAR LOWER EDGES A RECTANGULAR OPENING, A GENERALLY U-SHAPED BOTTOM MEMBER ADAPTED TO BE SECURED ALONG THE UPPER EDGES OF ITS SIDES TO TWO OPPOSITE LOWER EDGES OF SAID WALLS, CLOSURE MEMBERS SECURED TO AND EXTENDING VERTICALLY AT THE ENDS OF SAID BOTTOM MEMBER AND ADAPTED TO BE SECURED ALONG THEIR UPPER EDGES TO THE OTHER TWO OPPOSITE LOWER EDGES OF SAID WALLS, AND AN INVERTED GENERALLY U-SHAPED HOOD MOUNTED AT ITS ENDS ON SAID CLOSURE MEMBERS AND HAVING ITS LOWER EDGES SPACED FROM THE UPPER SURFACES OF THE RESPECTIVE SIDES OF SAID BOTTOM MEMBER AND FORMING THEREWITH A VACUUM CHAMBER INTO WHICH LADING CAN FLOW THROUGH THE LONGITUDINALLY EXTENDING SLOTS THEREBETWEEN. 